Windows 8/7 question

Hi all,

Maybe through ignorance I dislike Windows 8. My laptop is about to die and I can get a good deal on a Windows 8 with good spec, 8gb ram, Intel I3 etc. My only option for similar spec in Windows 7 is more expensive, refurbished and I can't get locally.

My questions are, I know there are options to make 8 similar to 7. Has anyone here done this?Is this difficult? Is it worth the effort?

Thanks

they way i would do it is buy the new laptop, and install win7. to me win8 is not nice.

There are good and inexpensive aftermarket programs that bring the Start menu back. Most are free to try for 30 days and under $5 (US).

They also allow you to configure W8 so it only boots to the desktop. I recently built a new PC with W8, upgrading from a W7 machine, and while I hated W8 at first, I like it now with the Start menu back...it's stable and faster than W7.

I am using StartIsBack (www.startisback.com) but there are other well reviewed options like Stardock's Start 8 (http://www.stardock.co​m/products/start8/)

We recently acquired Windows 8 PC's for work I checked the Microsoft store that's on the main menu and there's a few solutions to make sorta like Windows 7. Windows 8 gets easier with time, but I can understand your annoyance, because simple task that use to take 2 clicks, for me now take more.

There are a couple of free programs out there that will make Win8 look like Win7. It will boot to the desktop, but you still have the option of using the Metro interface if you want to anytime. I just did it for my cousins laptop a few weeks ago.

I disliked Win 8, I bought it on release, installed it, gave it a week and went back to Win 7. At the time I was using older hardware that couldn't take advantage of the fast boot options and the UI was just to clunky. Even with an upgrade to a Z87/i7 4770k platform it was still a no go with out running several programs to mimic Win 7 and those programs were far from bug free.

Fast forward to current day. My main PC is now running a Z97/i7 4790k combo on Win 8.1. It boots straight to the desktop in under 10 seconds, it's fast and stable. Win 8.1 has a start button, it's not the same as the classic start but with a couple of tweaks(built in tweaks, not add on programs) it's enough for me to move on from Win 7. I still have a few gripes, but they are mostly about lack of visual effects like glass and transparency. I have tried a couple apps but they are buggy at best.

There will be some growing pains in a switch, a lot of things have been moved around, some of the UI tweaks are harder to find or have been removed but a quick Google search will usually get it sorted out.

Classic shell (free) with 8.1 makes it much better. Install all your core apps, utilities, and such using Ninite, much quicker than individually.

I use StartIsBack+ Works excellent. I also boot directly to desktop and disable charms from popping up on my desktop machine (although I use them for my Surface 2 Pro).

This fall there is a rumored update to 8.1 that would completely eliminate the start menu gripes. $3 for StartIsBank+ is a reasonable workaround until that happens.

The only things I don't like about Win 8.1 are:

1. Major updates like going from 8 to 8.1 need to be done through the Windows Store instead of Windows Update. Pretty stupid IMO.

2. No Win XP mode like what was available for Win 7 Pro. Fortunately you can use Client Hyper-V for a virtual machine, so I'd think that as long as you have a licensed copy of XP you should be able to install it.

3. Microsoft makes it difficult to use an aRGB image for the desktop (it automatically converts aRGB images you select to sRGB, which is exactly what you don't want to happen if you have a wide gamut monitor). There's a workaround, but it's convoluted enough that most people will just live with having an oversaturated desktop image.

Pretty minor nits for most users. On the other hand there are some improvements for Win 8/8.1 that make it a more efficient OS that far outweigh the small negatives.

What about reformatting the W8 machine with W7?

http://www.newegg.com …_7-_-32-416-806-_-Product

Bob_A wrote in post #17066848
This fall there is a rumored update to 8.1 that would completely eliminate the start menu gripes

I thought that idea was abandoned and the Start menu wasn't going to come back until 2015 with "Threshold" / Win 9...

I thought the Start menu was added back w/ 8.1?

http://windows.microso​ft.com …s#personalize=s​tartscreen

drvnbysound wrote in post #17066857
What about reformatting the W8 machine with W7?

http://www.newegg.com …_7-_-32-416-806-_-Product

Win 8 Pro typically has downgrade rights to Win 7. Biggest problem is having drivers available for newer hardware....some mfgs offer them, some don't...just depends on the hardware.

drvnbysound wrote in post #17066948
I thought the Start menu was added back w/ 8.1?

http://windows.microso​ft.com …s#personalize=s​tartscreen

Yes, there is a start button in 8.1, but limited functionality compared to Win 7.

cutwater wrote in post #17066944
I thought that idea was abandoned and the Start menu wasn't going to come back until 2015 with "Threshold" / Win 9...

Hadn't heard that, but a shame if that's the case. StatIsBack+ has been an excellent product though since it's essentially a perfect copy of the Win 7 start menu, so I'm in no hurray to see the next update anyway.

cutwater wrote in post #17066951
Yes, there is a start button in 8.1, but limited functionality compared to Win 7.

Yup. It's really not much of an improvement at all. Still horrible.

Fortunately it can be fixed for the cost of a couple of cups of coffee.